Non functional MRI at GB Pant Hospital-NHRC notice to Delhi Govt, Centre

Reportedly, a doctor has told that around 90 per cent of the patients in the neurology and neurosurgery OPD require MRI tests to be done. He has further added that postoperative MRI is needed in 20 per cent of neurosurgery cases to assess the outcome of surgery such as resection of a tumour. In these cases, they either do a CT scan or wait for the patient to become stable enough, to be sent to LNJP Hospital for the test. The urgent cases are scanned the same day or following day but, generally, the waiting time for an MRI test at the LNJP hospital is around two years and therefore most of the patients are referred to private centres and the government pays for the test.

Reportedly, the GB Pant Hospital in Central Delhi may be one of Delhi's biggest super-speciality medical institutions, but it shockingly hasn't had a functional MRI machine since February 2016. It has been sending patients, even those admitted, requiring emergency scans to nearly LNJP Hospital, while asking the rest to get them done in government- empanelled private diagnostic centres.

According to the media report, carried on the 4th October 2018, other specialities also face the similar crisis. Till a few years ago, the hospital was competing with AIIMS in surgical excellence. The fact came out last week as a school teacher from Karawal Nagar, who lost her nine-month-old foetus after admission for delivery to Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital two years ago, had reportedly filed a petition in Delhi High Court regarding the poor condition of the state-run hospitals. The unavailability of MRI machine at GB Pant Hospital was also mentioned by her in the petition.